DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 16, 17 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by applicant’s admitted prior art [WO 2020/192917 (Fig. 13)].
Regarding claim 16, WO 2020/192917 discloses an amplifier circuit comprising an input output terminal (Re-Constructed RX) configured to be coupled to an antenna (Antenna), a receiver amplifier (LNA) with an input (input of LNA) and an output (output of LNA), a balanced amplifier (Quadrature Balanced) that includes an input directional coupler (left Quadrature splitter) comprising first (upper input port of the left Quadrature splitter) and second (lower output port of the left Quadrature splitter) and third (upper output port of the left Quadrature splitter) and fourth (lower input port of the left Quadrature splitter) ports, an output directional coupler (right Quadrature combiner) comprising first (upper output port of the right Quadrature combiner) and second (upper input port of the right Quadrature combiner) and third (lower input port of the right Quadrature combiner) and fourth (lower output port of the right Quadrature combiner) ports, a first transmit amplifier (PAA), a second transmit amplifier (PAB), wherein an input (input of PAA) of the first transmit amplifier (PAA) is coupled to the third port (upper output port of the left Quadrature splitter) of the input directional coupler (left Quadrature splitter), an input (input of PAB) of the second transmit amplifier (PAB) is coupled to the second port (lower output port of the left Quadrature splitter) of the input directional coupler (left Quadrature splitter), the first port (lower output port of the right Quadrature combiner) of the output directional coupler (right Quadrature combiner) is coupled to the input output terminal (TX Output), the second port (upper input port of the right Quadrature combiner) of the output directional coupler (right Quadrature combiner) is coupled to an output of the first transmit amplifier (PAA), the third port (lower input port of the right Quadrature combiner) of the output directional coupler (right Quadrature combiner) is coupled to an output (output of PAB) of the second transmit amplifier (PAB), the fourth port (upper output port of the right Quadrature combiner) of the output directional coupler (right Quadrature combiner) is coupled to the input (input of LNA) of the receiver amplifier (LNA), and the RF circuit (Fig. 13) is configured in a transmit mode (when the amplifiers PAA and PAB are ON and the amplifier LNA is OFF) of operation to transmit an RF signal to the input output terminal (TX Output) and in a receive mode (when the amplifiers PAA and PAB are OFF and the amplifier LNA is ON) of operation to couple an RF signal received on the first port (lower output port of the right Quadrature combiner) of the output directional coupler (right Quadrature combiner) to an input (input of LNA) of the receiver amplifier (LNA).
Regarding claim 17, wherein the input output terminal (TX Output) comprises an antenna terminal (Antenna).
Regarding claim 23, the fourth port (lower input port of the left Quadrature splitter) of the input directional coupler (left Quadrature splitter) is configured to be coupled to an isolation impedance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 19 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over applicant’s admitted prior art [WO 2020/192917 (Fig. 13)] in view of [MCLAREN et al (Fig. 1); 2019/0173435].
Regarding claim 19, applicant’s admitted prior art discloses all the limitations in claim 19 except for that the first output matching network arranged between the output of the first transmit amplifier and the second port of the output directional coupler, and a second output matching network arranged between the output of the second transmit amplifier and the third port of the output directional coupler. MCLAREN et al discloses an amplifier circuit comprising a first output matching network (1014) arranged between the output (output of 1006) of the first transmit amplifier (1006) and the second port (left terminal of 1013) of the output directional coupler (1013, 1011, 1016, 1022), and a second output matching network (1020) arranged between the output (output of 1008) of the second transmit amplifier (1008) and the third port (left terminal of 1011) of the output directional coupler (1013, 1011, 1016, 1022). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have found it obvious to have employed the first output matching network at between the output of the first transmit amplifier and the second port of the output directional coupler and a second output matching network at between the output of the second transmit amplifier and the third port of the output directional coupler of WO 2020/192917 (Fig. 13) respectively, such as taught by MCLAREN et al (Fig. 1) in order to provide the advantageous benefit of improving the transmission signals of the amplifier circuit.
Regarding claim 34, applicant’s admitted prior art discloses all the limitations in claim 34 except for that the antenna matching network arranged between the first port of the output directional coupler and the antenna. MCLAREN et al discloses an amplifier circuit comprising an antenna matching network (1020) arranged between the first port (left terminal of 1011) of the output directional coupler (1013, 1011, 1016, 1022) and the antenna (resistor shunt to the ground). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have found it obvious to have employed the antenna matching network at between the first port (lower output terminal of right Quadrature combiner in Fig. 13 of WO 2020/192917) of the output directional coupler (right Quadrature combiner in Fig. 13 of WO 2020/192917) and the antenna (Antenna in Fig, 13 of WO 2020/192917), such as taught by MCLAREN et al (Fig. 1) in order to provide the advantageous benefit of improving the transmission signals of the amplifier circuit.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18, 20-22, 24-33 and 35 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Henry Choe whose telephone number is (571)272-1760. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 6:00 AM- 6:00 PM EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interview practice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea J Lindgren Baltzell can be reached on (571)272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. /HENRY CHOE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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